


On Magic and Monsters

by esmaier



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, Magic School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 09:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13097100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esmaier/pseuds/esmaier
Summary: Under the lights of the aquariums, they fell in love.-KanaKao Fantasy AUfor Enstar SS2017





	On Magic and Monsters

**Author's Note:**

> There are some liberties taken with the Ensemble Stars! Timeline and past character interactions, for the sake of this AU
> 
> Enstars SS2017 for Crow ([@crowquettes on twitter](https://twitter.com/crowquettes))

 

[ Year 1 ]

 

Kaoru loves it here. Where everybody has magic. Where no one regards him with a wary mix of fear and respect that disguises a measure of disgust. Yumenosaki Private Academy for Mages (and the Like) is the best school one could hope to their send their children to teach them them control while simultaneously guaranteeing them a magic-related career should they desire it. And if not, it was far easier to get a university recommendation with qualifications as a Mage trained in both politics and combat.

His father hates magic. Kaoru, deep down, understands, if only because it was the death of his mother. Because magic, for all its wonder and might, was a trade-off with one’s own life at the other end of the line. But Kaoru can’t hate in the same way, not when he can remember the joy in his mother’s eyes when, on her better days, she would demonstrate the same soft water magic that dances at the tips of his fingers now. When his own magic started surfacing, he was sent off to Yumenosaki with the instructions to learn control so that he could live as a “normal human adult with a normal human life,” and frankly, it was one of the best things his father had done to him.

 

 

Kaoru watches with mild curiosity as one of his classmates, Morisawa Chiaki, if he remembers correctly, skulks into class as the bell rings overhead with an uncharacteristic air of unease surrounding him. Even as the class draggs on, Chiaki keeps fidgeting in his seat, glancing at the window, the clock, then the door in rapid succession to the point it’s distracting Kaoru from the lesson (a completely boring, regular human school type lesson on classic Japanese literature). But because he simply doesn’t care enough, he ignores it.

Or rather, as much as he wants to, he simply can’t. Not when Chiaki, who normally remains somewhere below eye-level in presence, continues his erratic behavior of the course of the week. So when the lunch bell finally rings and the class empties out, as Chiaki starts from his chair, Kaoru reaches out and snags the back of Chiaki’s shirt with one hand, smirking as the other looks back with terror etched out into the frame of his face.

“Oi, Morisawa-kun, care to explain why you keep fidgeting through class? It’s distracting,” Kaoru asks casually, with all the lack of delicacy one can only expect from a fifteen year old high school boy.

“Ah!” Chiaki visibly flinches when he feels the tug on his shirt, and turns to look at Kaoru, hesitantly, falling silently as he seemingly appraises Kaoru.

“Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad, can it?”

Chiaki hesitates for another moment before suddenly grabbing for Kaoru’s wrist, leaning in closer than Kaoru would normally care for, “Promise me...you’ll keep it a secret.”  
Kaoru shifts uneasily, hearing his sister’s plea to keep out of trouble echoing somewhere in the back of his mind, but curiosity and naivety win over in the end and he agrees. The moment he agrees, Chiaki is pulling at his arm with a strength Kaoru didn’t know he possessed, and they’re slipping through the halls, twisting through the main area of the school until they’re passing through clearly unused areas of the building. This continues until they stop at one of the far back exits to a part of the school that Kaoru doesn’t think he’s ever bothered coming to see in his three months here.

Chiaki takes a visible breath, releasing Kaoru’s wrist and turning around to face him. “Hakaze-kun...what do you know about Monsters?”

Kaoru blinks, taken aback for a moment, rocking back on his heels as he considers the question. “Not a lot,” he admits after a moment, “Only that they’re supposed to be bad, but my mom used to say not all are like that. She’s the one who had Magic, in my family, and that’s where I got it from.” It’s not really a secret, when many others are the same, so he doesn’t mind admitting it, particularly not to someone genuinely kind-hearted like Chiaki.

“And the fabled ones of Yumenosaki?”  
A laugh escapes Kaoru before he can contain it, “Those aren’t real, are they? They’re just supposed to be quirky students we’ve had here over the years.”

“The student council president is supposed to be one, and his younger brother as well. You know, in the other class.”

I,” Kaoru initially opens his mouth to protest before he considers this, taking in the hesitant look on Chiaki’s face. “Well, I guess that kinda makes sense…and anyways, it’s not like I have anything against them, if they have no intentions to harm me, I could care less.”

Chiaki fidgets in place for another moment before putting a hand to the door behind him. “I think...I’ve stumbled upon one of those fabled monsters.” When Kaoru’s jaw visibly drops, Chiaki speaks up again, a tad frantically, “He’s harmless though! Actually! The reason I decided to take you with me is...I think he needs help, and your water Magic would be more useful than what fire I can use.”

“Morisawa-kun...what exactly did you find,” Kaoru cautions, fully prepared to start sprinting straight back towards the main part of campus, and possibly to the school doctor to tell him that Chiaki’s gone insane, or something.

“I don’t know,” Chiaki admits, eyes cast downwards. “He doesn’t speak much, and when he does, he’s a little hard to understand.”

And here, Kaoru considers his options. Either he pretends this never happened, goes back to class, lives in ignorance of the possible Monsters haunting his school, gets through his high school years and graduates like his father wants him too— and yeah right. There’s no way he’s the type of person to do that.

“So let’s meet this Monster of yours, Morisawa-kun.”

 

 

Kanata is nothing like Kaoru would have imagined.

For starters, Kaoru’s first impression of Kanata is him sitting in a run down fountain, cracks littering the stone and water gently lapping at the chipped edges of the main bowl. Another is when Kaoru notices how bright Kanata’s eyes are. The color doesn’t bother him, not when most Mages have oddly colored eyes as a signifier of their magic, but Kanata’s eyes almost seem to glow, even under the light of the sun.

When Kanata catches sight of Chiaki, though, he pulls himself up to the edge of the fountain in clear delight, peering up past Chiaki’s shoulder to examine Kaoru thoughtfully. “Chiaki brought a ‘friend,’ who is he?” He questions in a melodic tone, and Chiaki waves Kaoru forward.  
“Kanata-kun...Hakaze-kun is in my class, he’s a water Mage so I thought he might be able to help.”

“‘Water’ is good,” Kanata agrees thoughtfully, his gaze never leaving Kaoru, and suddenly smiles. “Anybody who smells like the ‘sea’ cannot be bad,” he states, turning his eyes to Chiaki.

Kaoru releases a breath he didn’t he know he was holding when Kanata finally looks away from him, and takes the opportunity to carefully examine Kanata himself. Kanata doesn't look particularly different, but even so, one of the first lessons he learned at Yumenosaki rings through his head, about how certain humanoid Monsters have integrated themselves into human society over the years through their lack of distinguishable traits.

 

 

Kanata’s existence confuses Kaoru. While he was clearly a creature of the sea, Kanata showed no affinity for water Magic in the coming weeks, which was the thing that had Kaoru wondering over Kanata’s tendency to stay submerged whenever possible. Because at the same time, Kanata shows no real need to be near water either.

But because it’s Kaoru, he doesn’t pry. He learned long ago that it was better to just let things happen as they will, so that’s what he goes with. He finds himself wandering to the back grounds of the school with Chiaki during lunch more often than not, excusing it as boredom and lack of anything better do. Kanata and Chiaki are both delighted with the extra company though, and he listens in contentment as the other two talk school happenings.

Kaoru doesn’t mind letting the other two do most of the talking, having less working knowledge of the Magic world than either of them. Mostly, they talk about Magic within the school, discussing which unit of upperclassmen is on a winning streak of battles, or that so-and-so unit has been put on suspension for repeatedly skipping lessons on ethics. Sometimes, in whispers, they speak of their year-mates, rumors of how a trio of their yearmates have been recruited into Knights, a combat unit with a long legacy, or of how Tenshouin-kun is in the hospital, again, despite the fact they’ve all been at Yumenosaki for less than half a year.

Before long, though, Chiaki begins to get caught up in things, as they all get more accustomed to the school and it begins a norm for Kaoru to show up alone. He and Kanata easily fall into a comfortable mix of silence and conversation. Neither of them really talk about battle, both preferring pacifism. Instead, they begin considering clubs.

“Do any of them interest you, Kanata-kun?”  
“Are any involved with the sea?” is the hopeful inquiry.

Kaoru flips through the battered Yumenosaki guidebook placed on the fountain ledge between them, frowning at the list of clubs, half of which he wasn’t even aware existed, for all their lack of presence on campus. “Doesn’t look like it…”

Kanata peers down at the page, tilting his head to the side which causes little droplets of water to slip down from the tips of his hair back into the fountain. “Could we...perhaps, start our own?”

“I don’t see why not,” Kaoru replies, resting his cheek on the warm stone of the fountain. “We don’t even need a minimum member requirement...what would we do though?”

“Something with the ocean.”  
  
“...I gathered that much. But you can’t even swim,” Kaoru glances at Kanata, perhaps a little reproachfully, and he’s met with a little apologetic smile that makes something flip-flop in Kaoru’s stomach, that he ignores with all the tenacity of a teenager.

 

 

The Marine Life Club is established only a week later, the paperwork passing through the student council with an ease that Kaoru didn’t think was possible, and he admires the messy signature of their school president.

“Sakuma Rei, kinda intimidating but I guess he’s not bad at all,” Kaoru wonders aloud as he walks into the newly established clubroom.

“Rei is a ‘kind’ friend to me,” Kanata’s voice calls from behind a set of tanks, and Kaoru peers around the corner to find Kanata carefully calibrating the salinity of the tanks so they’ll be able to accomodate fish soon.

“Do you know him well? He’s a year above us and all…”

Kanata pauses here, and peers up at Kaoru through his bangs. “Kaoru knows...that I am not a ‘normal’ Mage.” He says it not as a question, but as a statement, yet Kaoru nods anyways. “Rei is the ‘same.’ He is the one who invited me into this school, in hopes to start creating the ‘equality’ powerful Mages are always talking of. But it is ‘difficult.’”

Kanata falls silent and Kaoru ponders this for a moment before merely shrugging it off, “It’s fine. You have me after all, don’t you?”

 

 

They fall into yet another easy pattern.

The Marine Life Club room provides them a quiet location more easily accessible than the fountains in the back of the school, and it’s here that Kaoru learns of Kanata’s light Magic.

“Light and dark Magic are associated with Monsters,” Kanata speaks softly, seriously, the way he does when he talks of matters of Monsters and Magic, “They are one of the ways humans distinguish us from ‘regular’ Mages, and so many of us learn how to disguise it.”

“Well that’s kinda stupid,” Kaoru drawls from where he’s draped across one of the plush couches the club had been anonymously gifted.

Kanata quirks a small smile at Kaoru and turns to face one of the freshwater tanks, pressing his fingers to glass, the light within beginning to pulse in time with his tapping fingers, “I like to disguise as water, because it is the most ‘comfortable’ to me.”

Kaoru himself is happy to use his water to bring comfort to Kanata. In his own household, no one had more than accommodating of it. While his sister never minded much, he couldn’t ignore the fear he sometimes saw reflected in her eyes, while his brother and father openly despised it. But he doesn’t like thinking about those times, taking every flicker of wonder in Kanata’s eyes to replace those memories.

 

 

It’s also during this time, in establishing the Marine Life Club that he properly meets Sakuma Rei.

It goes nothing like Kaoru would have expected.

When Kaoru’s called into the student council room, he doesn’t expect a sudden softening of red eyes as Rei grasps at Kaoru’s hand.

“Thank you, for taking care of Kanata-kun.”

Kaoru shuffles in place, flustered and not really sure why, and all the more uneasy because of it, “It’s not a problem, Kanata-kun’s a good friend y’know.”

Rei draws back with an easy grace, seeming to drift back to his chair behind his desk, “I don’t doubt your friendship. Kanata-kun has always had to hardest time adjusting, so I worry.”

“Well, there’s no need to.” Kaoru bites back, suddenly a little defensive. “This meeting has been great and all, but I do need to go and attend to my club duties, so if you’ll excuse me,” he tilts his head to Rei before walking out of the room as fast as he can without seeming as if he’s escaping. If asked, he’ll blame it on the way having to face Rei directly has made him feel off-kilter.

A wide smile crosses Rei’s face then, baring teeth and hints of fangs, as he watches Kaoru’s retreating back. An interesting Mage to consider, perhaps. And to think Rei had believed normal Mages boring in his childhood naivety.

 

* * *

[ Year 2 ]

 

The War.

Kaoru is able to avoid the worst of it, with practice born from years of avoiding conflict within his own home. But it still hurts something inside of him, watching as the haven he thought he’d entered fall apart at the hand of one very rich, very powerful teen. It becomes a regular occurance to see Magic sparking outside of battles, and their teachers are able to do nothing, not when the majority of them combined possessed less Magical ability than the geniuses of the school.

As factions start changing at the blink of an eye, Kaoru starts building all those walls around himself again in an attempt to protect himself. Units start dropping out of the school, from damaged reputations or injuries or both, and only news of top tier Units like Valkyrie falling at Tenshouin Eichi’s hands can bother him.

He hears most of the news, processes most of it, but chooses to hide. He starts spending more time in the Marine Life Clubroom, where the sound of tank filters and the lapping of water against the sides of the tanks can simultaneously calm him and cover the sounds of the outside world.

Kanata is not so lucky.

As Eichi begins taking over the school, Rei rises against him, and Kanata joins Rei. When Kaoru confronts him about it, in whispered tones as they stand face to face, Kaoru grasping desperately at Kanata’s shirt, Kanata merely smiles, prying Kaoru’s hands off with that insane strength of his.

“Rei brought me here, Kaoru. He gave me this ‘home’ so it is my duty to help protect it.” He explains, even as he walks to the exit. “Now that Wataru has...gone to the Emperor. I can no longer ‘stay’ hidden.”

Kanata turns to Kaoru, smile still in place, the soft light of the clubroom illuminating his face almost completely overpowered by the light of the hall outside, “I am ‘glad’ I got to meet Kaoru.”

 

 

It’s easier than one would think to adjust to the regime that Eichi builds with the unnatural assistance of Wataru. Tenshouin Eichi creates a Yumenosaki where Units of the Student Council rule with an iron fist, a Yumenosaki where new Units can’t even begin to find their footing, let alone question why their school is the way it is. And without the old powerhouse Units in place, their remaining members act as Kaoru does, with their heads down as they fight to keep what they have alive.

Kaoru didn’t have a unit, but he has Kanata.

For the first while, as the last vestiges of the War clean themselves up, they spend obscene amounts of time on the rooftops of the school. Kanata doesn’t like being too close to remnants of the War, not when it reminds him of Rei’s absence and his own loss. Kaoru doesn’t argue, not when it feels unnervingly similar to the days following his mother’s death, of the cold silence that filled his house from every room and hall, down to the last stairwell and immaculate corner.

They sit in stoic silence most days, leaning shoulder to shoulder as they watch the clouds pass by, along with the days of their second year of high school.

Once things feel as if they can pass for normal once again, Kanata and Kaoru return to their club room. Something tugs at Kaoru’s heart when he sees that Rei left them funds before he had been removed from his position, and says nothing about to Kanata in hopes it will spare him some pain. He only nods his assent when Kanata inquires about this purchase or that new fish species, wishing desperately that Rei could see every little smile it brings to Kanata’s face.

When Kanzaki Souma shows up at their door, they’re both stunned into silence. Because standing before them isn’t just any random first year, but one of Hasumi Keito’s Unit members. Hasumi Keito, Eichi’s right hand man and the one, for all Kanata and Kaoru know and believe, that sold Rei out to Eichi.

But Kanata seems to see something in Souma, taking in the lone figure with those bright eyes of his, before he nods, allowing Souma into the underwater reprieve he and Kaoru have built.

Souma is enamored, and rightfully so. Kanata and Kaoru have learned to weave their Magics together to create a feeling of being immersed under water, of being in darkness yet surrounded by fragmented light broken by the gentle movement within the tanks. The assortment of tanks have formed a sort of maze, or fortress, one where one could lie for hours without anybody being able to find them with a mere glance. Even aside from the room and club, Kanata himself is someone to be revered, with his seemingly never ending knowledge of marine life and care.

Much to Kanata’s quiet dismay, Kaoru and Souma don’t get along. To Souma, Kaoru is far to flippant, with his flirty personality and lack of Unit affiliation. To Kaoru, Souma can’t be trusted, not yet, not when Rei is still gone, not when looking Yumenosaki’s current state leaves a bitter taste in Kaoru’s mouth. For the most part, though, Kaoru leaves Souma alone and vice versa, especially when Souma is kept busy by Hasumi, as the newest member to the new powerhouse Unit Akatsuki.

So nothing changes much. RYUSEITAI’s Unit activities progress steadily, though slowly, unable to get away with much under Eichi’s watch, as unit not directly or even second handedly controlled by him. Karou still slacks off as much as possible, keeping his grades just high enough to appease is father while spending that time in the club room with Kanata. He spends afternoons dozing off under the dim lights of the aquariums, waking to find Kanata feeding their inhabitants, or to his head settled neatly in Kanata’s lap, his blazer thrown over Kaoru’s torso. When he notices Kaoru’s awake, sometimes Kanata tells stories, either of the Oddballs, or of Monsters in general, using Kaoru’s general lack of knowledge as a source of comfort, as a reassurance that he won’t be judged, if only as a result of ignorance.

Kanata regales tales of a Rei not a fearsome leader or the weakened creature he was before his departure, but of a kind older brother figure, gently guiding the others in a curriculum not catered to their Magic. Stories of how Wataru and Shu would constantly squabble with their opposing magics, making Kaoru laugh at a recollection of a time when Shu had become so frustrated with Wataru messing with every precise thread of his magic that he’d trussed Wataru up like a turkey and it had taken Rei hours to undo every thread of magic wrapped around Wataru. He peaks softer, more forlornly, of how Rei had guided Kanata himself, darkness helping shape light into the fluid form of water.

Sometimes, on his worst days, he’ll speak in quiet tones lacking the eccentric form of speech that Kaoru has grown used to. He’ll confess to Kaoru his worries, his frustration with his home life, his concern for the school. On these days Kaoru will listen in silence before admitting the same, leaning closer until they’re pressed together from their shoulders down to the sides of their shoes.

 

 

They kiss for the first time under the soft glow of tank lights. The sun has set, the darkness of the sky outside lending to the feeling that the tanks have surrounded them, that they’re in a world not their own.

Souma has left long ago, and they’re about to leave themselves, when Kanata catches Kaoru by the wrist as Kaoru reaches for the door handle. When he turns, hand on wrist somehow becomes a hand against his own, and he twines their fingers together instinctively. Before Kaoru’s really aware of what’s happening, Kanata is pulling him down scant centimeters and they’re kissing. It’s soft and chaste, and nothing feels real yet he’s oh so aware that it _is._

 

 

Near the end of the year, Rei returns from his studies abroad, and it’s a turning point for them all. He’s weary, half the Monster he used to be, and it shows, but neither Kaoru nor Kanata mind when he comes seeking the dark comfort of the Marine Life Club room, explaining his plans for the next year.

Rei is content to leave Kanata as is, trusting RYUSEITAI to lend a hand where needed, which leaves Kaoru.

“Join a unit with me, Kaoru-kun.”

“Haha, very funny Sakuma-san,” Kaoru deadpans back at Rei when the elder suddenly proposes the offer to him.

“Ah, I’m quite serious, though,” Rei says from where he’s clinging comfortably to Kanata’s back, chin resting on the other Monster’s shoulder, leeching Kanata’s warmth as Kanata feeds the fish.

Kaoru rolls his eyes and continues feeding his side of the room, “I respect you Sakuma-san, and I’m thankful and all, but both you and I know we can’t take Tenshouin-kun on and win.”

A regretful look flickers across Rei’s fine features before disappearing behind the flawlessly lazy mask he’s taken to these days, “I’m well aware. However, we should be able to assist any...upstart Units. I’ve heard some rumors, and I’d like to be prepared. And besides, it wouldn’t just be us two, I’d ask Wan-chan from my old unit to join. He’d like a chance at revenge, I think,” Rei says thoughtfully, trailing off in thought until Kanata gently nudges Rei back to the present.

A sudden smile, fangs and all, so reminiscent of Kaoru’s first year, startles him, and Rei settles comfortably under one of the tanks with a heat lamp that casts a red glow that catches on his cheekbones. “My travels were fruitful in more ways than one as well. I found a powerful creature who would complete the unit, should you agree to join, Kaoru-kun.”

Met with two pairs of glowing and hopeful eyes, Kaoru realizes he’s been played, and he sighs, dumping the last of a bag of fish food into a tank. “Only if it doesn’t mean too much work for me, I’ve gotten used to this lifestyle, y'know.”

 

 

UNDEAD easily establishes itself as a powerhouse just before the year end, with Rei’s sudden appearance startling Eichi and Keito badly enough that both can only watch as rumors of Rei’s overwhelming power spread through the school, discouraging most rookie Units from challenging them.

A Unit that manages to arrange a battle with them at the end of the year is overconfident in their ability to face two unknowns and two that were known to have been part of a unit that crumbled at the hands of the current regime. Even if it’s an unofficial battle in the eyes of the school, they draw a crowd if only because of Rei’s history.

They lose badly, not expecting the sheer explosive raw power from both Koga and Adonis, the way the flames flicker all around and the very ground beneath their feet shakes with enough force to knock them to their feet. Koga has some semblance of control, used to battling from the days of DEADMANZ, and yet he chooses to let his flames run wild, to run up the walls of the arena, to rise in sheets around their opponents. But Adonis, Adonis is raw power that Rei hasn’t had the time to train, yet he thinks he doesn’t mind, even when he’s forced to brace himself as the arena floor splinters from the sheer force of his Magic.

Their opponents don’t expect to break through flames, to stabilize themselves only for a rush of water, tinged with salt in a way reminiscent of the ocean, to crash over their heads and douse their Magic, no matter the attribute, to nothing. They don’t expect the force of the sea to sweep them away to the far end of the area at the flick of a hand and a playful smirk.

And behind the three of them stands their conductor, red eyes gleaming from under a shroud of darkness as he plays with the nuances of the magic around him, never directly attacking, never having a need to.

 

* * *

[ Year 3 ]

 

When the year begins and Tenshouin Eichi is hospitalized, both UNDEAD and RYUSEITAI are able to establish themselves as top tier Units, smashing through cracks within the student council visible only to people like them, that have known the current regime from its beginning and its past.

As Rei predicted, Units to rise from the ash covered grounds of the Yumenosaki that Eichi burned. One in particular begins to pave the way for others, aided by UNDEAD from the shadows, as Rei wished, and from there, it seems like there’s an upwards trend, as Keito is unable to maintain both his own Unit’s status and the Student Council both. Not when one of the members is an upstart himself, and especially not when another remains heavily reliant on Eichi.

Battles continue, become more widespread and commonplace. And though Kaoru knew it would happen eventually, he isn’t quite prepared for the day he and Kanata face each other in battle.

But for all his fears and worries as the day approaches, it’s fun, Kaoru thinks. To be able to use their magic like this, fighting alongside people they’ve come to trust and love aside from each other, while using their working of knowledge to directly challenge each other. Kaoru drinks in the look of sharp attention in Kanata’s gaze as he faces off against the very water Magic that had swirled around him only the night before, Kanata’s laughter as he slashes through Kaoru’s water Magic with his own disguised abilities, until their battle is interrupted and separated by Koga chasing RYUSEITAI’s tall earth Magic using member across the length of the battle arena.

 

  

Inevitably, they don’t spend as much time with each other as they did before, in previous years. They’re both busy with their respective unit work, a workload that only increases at the system begins to repair itself, something that Kaoru wasn’t sure was going to happen in his time here, but he’s glad it is, if it means being able to enjoy his last year as a high school student.

It’s one day, when Kaoru is lazy sprawled on the floor of the UNDEAD practice room, flipping through sheet music for an upcoming live that Rei comes to crouch next to Kaoru’s head. Kaoru pauses to peer up at Rei, briefly wistful when he thinks back to his first year, the Rei that spoke with fire in his eyes and poison on his tongue.

“Need something from me, Sakuma-san?” Kaoru questions lightly when he recovers himself, fingers already dancing out the rhythm to the new song on the floor.

Rei hums, taking Kaoru’s question as permission to sit. “Nothing in particular...just thinking about how I never would have imaged the two of us to be in a Unit together, back when you were such a lost but cute first year~”

Kaoru rolls his eyes at that, swatting away Rei’s hand that threatens to ruffle his hair before settling his head comfortably on his arms. “I suppose you’re right about that, it is kinda funny to think about.”

They fall into a comfortable silence for a moment before Rei speaks up again. “Things with Ritsu are better. Not anywhere as good as I want them to be, but at least he himself is doing better. Knights has just about returned to its former glory, I think, with the return of the King...we should expect a challenge any day now.”

At that Kaoru shudders, just a little. He’s actually kind of glad Knights doesn’t deign battling with UNDEAD very often, if only because, frankly, Izumi scares Kaoru a little. The other water user is pretty, sure, but Izumi wields his water like ice, to match his personality. Aside from him, each and every member of Knights prove themselves stronger with their King’s return, not to mention their advantage of not only having one Mage per attribute, but also a dark Mage to match Rei’s magic. Though of course, Kaoru uses Mage lightly when it comes to Sakuma brothers, knowing better now after repeated exposure that the both of them are far less human than the eye can perceive.

  

 

Kaoru relays his conversation with Rei to Kanata the next time they’re able to meet in the club room, Kaoru draped all across Kanata’s lap, relaxing under slender fingers combing through his hair. Kanata chuckles when Kaoru admits his fear of Izumi, smiling down at him affectionately until Kaoru impulsively pulls Kanata down to kiss him before he’s overwhelmed with embarrassment and has to roll off of Kanata’s lap to stare into a floor level tank.

“Kaoru is very cute like this,” Kanata laughs, causing Kaoru to roll back around to face him, peering through his fingers up at Kanata.

“It’s only because it’s Kanata-kun that I’m like this,” he complains. “Sakuma-san is plenty pretty and I never react like this.”

Kanata leans over to kiss him again, holding Kaoru’s gaze with his own glowing one, “Kaoru attracts the attention of Monsters, I wonder why, hmm?”

“It’s ‘cause I’m tasty~” Kaoru teases, recovering himself even as he returns the kiss. When they find time to spend with each other like this, every action feels more substantial to him, like every move he makes means so much more.

He laughs when Kanata purposely starts pushing his body weight down against Kaoru’s chest by becoming deadweight, and pulls the Monster close, even as his brain starts wondering how he anybody consider Kanata less of a person than him or anybody else.

  

 

But as Kaoru’s life at Yumenosaki improves steadily, his life at home does the exact opposite as his time at graduation draws closer. He and his father start arguing more, and when it all becomes too much, he starts spending nights in the Marine Life Clubroom. Sometimes he stays up the entire night, staring up as the fish above him swim their slow and steady circles, taking comfort in their silent company. Other times, he’s able to let the soft whirring of the filters ease him to sleep until his phone rings out an alarm that gives him just enough time for him to beat some of the sports teams to the showers before the morning bell for class rings.

At some point, Kanata starts quietly joining him. The first time it happens, Kaoru’s scared witless when he wakes up to find Kanata tucked neatly into his side, breathing softly as his hand clutches Kaoru’s shirt, a blanket from who-knows-where thrown over the both of them. Before long, it becomes something that happens more frequently than it should, the two of them leaving school after respective Unit training only to reconvene in the dead of night, after the teachers have long since gone home.

 

 

As all things must, their time at Yumenosaki comes to an end.

Things start gaining momentum as the end of the year draws near, and all the third years start passing their leadership onto younger members, whispered secrets of the school passed on alongside positions of power. Kaoru and Rei aren’t too worried, not when their other two Unit members are settled nicely into the school, but Kanata voices his concerns to Kaoru, worried about his three juniors, only ceasing when Kaoru reminds Kanata that the three of them have each other. That no one is truly alone the way all of them had been at some point before the revised system of the school.

When they huddle together in their clubroom, legs tangled as they lie side by side in the semi-darkness, they whisper of their future. Kanata thinks he’ll continue on with Chiaki, putting on Magic shows for children and pushing for parents to seek out Magical education at an earlier age. Kaoru breathes a sigh of relief that Kanata has begun making plans, admitting that he and Rei have received an offer for a dueling duo, the popularity of show battling rising daily. Even as he finishes speaking, they’re grinning at each other, wondering how things could have changed like this, when they no longer truly needed the sanctuary of the Marine Life Club, when the realized their true comfort was in each other.

And eventually comes the Repayment Festival. The final battle at Yumenosaki Private Academy for Beings of Magic (never mind the renaming of the institution was to not be in effect until the next school year).

Kaoru finds himself thinking, as they stand in the arena together with the reborn DEADMANZ, that he should still be bitter about Keito’s betrayal, of Wataru’s, or the way things had all gone sour, but he can’t bring himself to be troubled by it. Not when life was playing out so nicely now, and really, he was fine with things just like this.

The final battles feel a little bittersweet to him. For one, it means his own leave, but it also means that Yumenosaki survived all the war they had ravaged upon it, and that their legacies would be continuing on in future generations of Mages, Monsters, and the like.

Later in the day, after the battles between upperclassmen and their juniors have finished, the younger students battle each other in a tournament style, for show to their patrons, and for the fun of it. Other students, those that need to rebuild their combat Units with the graduation of their seniors, demonstrate their Magic, if only for the purpose of drawing in potential new members and sponsors. It’s at the back of an audience that Souma has drawn, with his elegant movements and fierce use of magic, that Kanata finds Kaoru, sidling up next to him and bumping their shoulders together. Even without looking Kaoru can picture the smile on Kanata’s face, and he can’t help but grin, lacing their fingers together as he closes his eyes and turns his face to the open sky, thinking to himself that yes, he truly loved it here.

 

To Yumenosaki, he bids his farewell and thanks, for all it taught him of Magic, of Monsters, and a new forevermore.

 


End file.
